Standards
by Gay Jesus Probably
Summary: A young Robin finds that even criminals have standards, and morality is relative. T for some swearing. Oneshot.
**AN: Ok so I spend a lot of time just doing a wiki walk through TV Tropes, and I recently ended up on the Wouldn't Hurt a Child page, and so yeah this just sort of happened. The Robin in question here is Dick Grayson, and he's like, 11, this one shot is one of his first few patrols. Enjoy!**

Standards

Robin crouched silently on the rooftop, witnessing the shady dealings in the alleyway below. Really, the scene was just so stereotypical, it almost hurt. Two men attempting to look nondescript, but just looking really sketchy both standing in an alleyway in a bad part of town in the middle of the night. Yeah. Nothing illegal going on there.

Blatantly illegal looking proceedings aside, the conversation drifting up to the watching boys ears was evidence enough to show that there was something illegal occurring below, as judging by the items changing hands, and the conversation about it making it very clear a drug deal was taking place.

Robin looked beside him automatically, before remembering that Batman wasn't with him, Batman was off in a different part of the city. Robin had finally been allowed to do part of the nights patrol solo. Which seemed to be taking a bit of getting used to.

Well, with no immediate backup, Robin couldn't call the police on the deal from where he was – the dealer and buyer would be gone by the time they arrived, and they would probably hear him calling from his perch.

So. Time to get medieval on their butts.

With the grace of a professional athlete, he rose silently to his feet, mentally working out the best approach to the situation. The two men below him didn't seem to have any sort of guns on them, and if they were armed, it would just be with a knife or something. Easy pickings. There was a fire escape that he could use to swing down to them, or to escape if the confrontation went south. He could jump between them, land on top of one of them…

Or, to increase his odds of nabbing them both, jump down and block the alley mouth, causing both to be trapped inside, and take his chances with both of them.

He decided to take his chances with them both.

The deal seemed to be finishing up, and the buyer turned to leave. Robin took his opportunity, and dropped down, landing neatly in the mouth of the alleyway.

"FREEZE!" He yelled, grinning slightly. The buyer practically jumped out of his skin, shrieking something incoherent, and dropping the baggie of product he had just acquired, falling backwards and hitting the ground, clearly terrified.

The dealer on the other hand, seemed much more prepared for the situation. And apparently, Robin's eyes weren't nearly as good as he thought they were, because from under the coat, the man had pulled a pistol that Robin hadn't noticed, and was aiming it straight at the boys head. Robins mouth went dry in fear, and he was hit with the sudden realization that oh, hell, this was it. He closed his eyes, flinching in dread.

…And nothing happened.

Nothing happened for a very long few seconds.

Robin opened his eyes again, to find that the buyer had fainted away on the ground. And in front of him, the dealer was lowering the gun, looking apologetic.

"Shit, sorry kid. Thought you were the Bat for a minute. Oh, and I just swore in front of the kid I pulled a gun on, I am on a fucking roll today, god damn…"

Robin bristled.

"If you're saying I'm not a threat because I'm a kid-!"

"What? No. Chill. I'm saying that I'm not gonna shoot a kid. I sell drugs, shootings kids is crossing the fuckin' line. Now, Batman, I'll happily take a few shots at if it comes to a fight. Batman's young partner? Not so much. God, how much time have you spent dealing with Arkham crazies?"

Robin shrugged awkwardly, for some reason not wanting to admit to the man that yes, it was quite a lot of time lately.

"Anyways. Look man, I've got a family to feed here, and in this economy, and with the way social services are, this is the only way to get food in everybody's mouths. If you could call us even this one time, and settle for booking my client here, I'd be eternally grateful. Like, informant grateful, if you're following me on this. …Provided informing you of thing comes with some cash, because really, there are several mouths I am responsible to putting food in to." The man said with a slight grin, holstering his gun. Robin's mouth twitched in reply.

"Uh, we're good for informants. Besides, how would you be able to tell me anything about the Gotham underworld? I've never even seen you." Robin said, pointedly turning his head. The man's smile spread across his face.

"I owe you one kid. You keep out of trouble, alright? Not everyone's as nice as I am."

The man quickly left the alley, but hesitated, before giving what was – in Robin's professional opinion – a highly unnecessary hair ruffle.

Robin pulled out his handcuffs, and went for the still-unconscious buyer on the ground. As he cuffed the man, he quietly decided that yeah, Batman did not need to know exactly how the events went.

And to start with, Batman was definitely never finding out that he got surprised with a gun. The last thing Robin wanted or needed was Batman feeling even more paranoid. Nightmare fuel really, just the thought of it. Ugh.


End file.
